Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ge 2021-Professional Ethics and Human Values Unit I - Human Values
Ge 2021-Professional Ethics and Human Values Unit I - Human Values
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VALUES
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Values are individual in nature.
Values are comprised of personal concepts of responsibility, entitlement and
respect.
Values are shaped by personal experience, may change over the span of a
lifetime and may be influenced by lessons learned.
Values may vary according to an individuals cultural, ethnic and/or faithbased background.
Never change your core values.
In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your
core values.
Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do not compromise on them
for any reason.
Integrity is one such value.
MORALS
Morals are guiding principles that every citizen should hold.
Morals are foundational concepts defined on both an individual and societal
level.
At the most basic level, morals are the knowledge of the difference between
right and wrong.
PERSONAL ETHICS
Simply put, all individuals are morally autonomous beings with the power and
right to choose their values, but it does not follow that all choices and all value
systems have an equal claim to be called ethical.
Actions and beliefs inconsistent with the Six Pillars of Character trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship - are
simply not ethical.
PERSONAL ETHICS - everyday examples
Software piracy
Expense account padding
Copying of homework or tests
Income taxes
Borrowing nuts and bolts, office supplies from employer
Copying of Videos or CDs
Plagiarism
Using the copy machine at work
RELIGION AND ETHICS
The Golden Rule is a basic tenet in almost all religions: Christian, Hindu,
Jewish, Confucian, Buddhist, Muslim.
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Concerns the goodness of voluntary human conduct that affects the self or
other living things
Morality (Latin mores) usually refers to any aspect of human action
Ethics (Greek ethos) commonly refers only to professional behavior
Ethics consist of the application of fundamental moral principles and reflect
our dedication to fair treatment of each other, and of society as a whole.
An individuals own values can result in acceptance or rejection of societys
ethical standards because even thoughtfully developed ethical rules can
conflict with individual values.
ASPECTS OF ETHICS
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IMPEDIMENTS TO RESPONSIBILITY
Self-interest.
Fear.
Self-deception.
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Ignorance.
Egocentric tendencies.
Microscopic vision.
Groupthink.
Lying
Deliberate deception
Withholding information
Failing to adequately promote the dissemination of information
Failure to seek out the truth
Revealing confidential or proprietary information
Allowing ones judgment to be corrupted.
SENSES OF EXPRESSION OF ENGG. ETHICS
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MORAL PROBLEMS IN ENGINEERING
(SOME EXAMPLES)
4.1. An inspector discovered faulty construction equipment and applied a violation
tag, preventing its use. The supervisor, a construction manager viewed the case as a
minor abrasion of the safety regulations and ordered the removal of the tag to speed
up the project. When the inspector objected to this, he was threatened with
disciplinary action.
4.2. An electric utility company applied for a permit to operate a nuclear power plant.
The licensing agency was interested in knowing what emergency measures had
been established for humans safety in case of reactor malfunctioning. The utility
engineers described the alarm system and arrangements with local hospitals for
treatment. They did not emphasize that this measures applied to plant personnel
only and that they had no plans for the surrounding population. When enquired about
their omission, they said it was not their responsibility.
4.3. A chemical plant dumped wastes in a landfill. Hazardous substances found their
way into the underground water table. The plants engineers were aware of the
situation but did not change the method of disposal because their competitors did it
the same cheap way, and no law explicitly forbade the practice.
4.4. Electronics Company ABC geared up for production of its own version of a
popular new item. The product was not yet ready for sale, but even so, pictures and
impressive specifications appeared in advertisements. Prospective customers were
led to believe that it was available off the shelf and were drawn away from competing
lines.
TYPES OF INQUIRIES
1. NORMATIVE INQUIRY
These are about what ought to be and what is good. These questions identify and
also justify the morally desirable norms or standards.
Some of the questions are:
A.
How far
engineers are obligated to protect public safety in given
situations?
B.
When should engineers start whistle blowing on dangerous practices of
their employers?
C.
Whose values are primary in taking a moral decision, employee, public
or govt?
D.
Why are engineers obligated to protect public safety?
E.
When is govt justified in interfering on such issues and why?
2. CONCEPTUAL INQUIRY:
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These questions should lead to clarifications on concepts, principles and issues in
ethics. Examples are:
A)
What is SAFETY and how is it related to RISK
B)
Protect the safety, health and welfare of public-What does this
statement mean?
C)
What is a bribe?
D)
What is a profession and who are professionals?
3. FACTUAL (DESCRIPTIVE) INQUIRIES
These are inquiries used to uncover information using scientific techniques. These
inquiries get to information about business realities, history of engineering
profession, procedures used in assessment of risks and engineers psychology.
Why study ENGINEERING ETHICS
ENGINEERING ETHICS is a means to increase the ability of concerned engineers,
managers, citizens and others to responsibly confront moral issues raised by
technological activities.
MORAL DILEMMMA
There are three types of complexities.
VAGUENESS: This complexity arises due to the fact that it is not clear to
individuals as to which moral considerations or principles apply to their
situation.
CONFLICTING REASONS: Even when it is perfectly clear as to which moral
principle is applicable to ones situation, there could develop a situation where
in two or more clearly applicable moral principles come into conflict.
DISAGREEMENT: Individuals and groups may disagree how to interpret,
apply and balance moral reasons in particular situations.
Steps in confronting MORAL DILEMMAS:
i)
Identify the relevant moral factors and reasons.
ii)
Gather all available facts that are pertinent to the moral factors
involved.
iii)
Rank the moral considerations in the order of their importance as they
apply to the situation.
iv)
Consider alternative course of action, tracing the full implications of
each, as ways of solving dilemma.
v)
Talk with colleagues, seeking the suggestions and perspectives of the
dilemma.
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vi)
This is viewed as the skill and habit of thinking rationally about ethical
issues on the basis of moral concerns independently or by selfdetermination.
Autonomous individuals think for themselves and do not assume that
customs are always right.
They seek to reason and live by general principles.
Their motivation is to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake,
maintaining integrity, self-respect, and respect for others.
One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to
accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells
him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty is in reality expressing the highest
respect for the law. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Letter from a Birmingham Jail,
1963.
A person becomes morally autonomous by improving various practical skills listed
below:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
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Pre-conventional Level
Whatever benefits oneself or avoids punishment. This is the level of
development of all young children. -Avoid punishment & Gain Reward
Conventional Level
Uncritical acceptance of ones family, group or society are accepted as final
standard of morality. Most adults do not mature beyond this stage. -1.Gain
Approval & Avoid Disapproval & 2. Duty & Guilt
Post-conventional Level
Motivation to do what is morally reasonable for its own sake, rather than
solely from ulterior motives, with also a desire to maintain their moral integrity,
self-respect and the respect of other autonomous individuals. They are
Morally autonomous people. -1. Agreed upon rights & 2. Personal moral
standards
GILLIGANS THEORY
Pre-conventional Level
This is the same as Kohlbergs first level in that the person is preoccupied
with self centered reasoning, caring for the needs and desires of self.
Conventional
Here the thinking is opposite in that, one is preoccupied with not hurting
others and a willingness to sacrifice ones own interests in order to help or
nurture others (or retain friendship).
Post-conventional Level
Achieved through context-oriented reasoning, rather than by applying abstract
rules ranked in a hierarchy of importance. Here the individual becomes able to
strike a reasoned balance between caring about other people and pursuing
ones own self-interest while exercising ones rights.
GILLIGAN
Ethics of care
Studies included females and colored
peoples
Application of context-oriented reasoning.
Study was conducted on both genders
and it was found, men based their
reasoning on justice and women based
theirs on care
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HEINZS DILEMMA
The famous example used by Kohlberg was called Heinzs dilemma. A woman
living in Europe would die of cancer unless she was given an expensive drug. Her
husband, Heinz, could not afford it. But the local pharmacist, who had invented the
drug at only one tenth of the sale price refused to sell it to Heinz who could only raise
half the required money from borrowings. Desperation drives Heinz to break into the
pharmacy and steal the drug to save his wife.
When respondents were asked whether and why Heinz should or should not steal a
drug to save his wife from a life-threatening illness. The responses of the individuals
were compared with a prototypical response of individuals at particular stages of
moral reasoning. Kohlberg noted that irrespective of the level of the individual the
response could be same, but the reasoning could be different.
For example, if a child reasoning at a preconventional level might say that it is not
right to steal because it is against law and someone might see you.
At a conventional level, an individual might argue that it is not right to steal because
it is against law and laws are necessary for society to function.
At a postconventional level, one may argue that stealing is wrong because is
against law and it is immoral.
CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY
CONTROVERSY:
All individuals will not arrive at same verdict during their exercising their moral
autonomy.
Aristotle noted long ago that morality is not as precise and clear-cut as
arithmetic.
Aim of teaching engg ethics is not to get unanimous conformity of outlook by
indoctrination, authoritarian and dogmatic teaching, hypnotism or any other
technique but to improve promotion of tolerance in the exercise of moral
autonomy.
CONSENSUS:
The conductor of a music orchestra has authority over the musicians and his
authority is respected by them by consensus as otherwise the music performance
will suffer. Hence the authority and autonomy are compatible.
On the other hand, tension arises between the needs for autonomy and the need for
concerns about authority. The difference between the two should be discussed
openly to resolve the issue to the common good.
PROFESSIONS AND PROFESSIONALISM
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Engineers normally imagine that they are servants to organizations rather than a
public guardian. Responsibility to the public is essential for a professional.
Who is a professional?
Obviously a member of a profession.
What is a profession?
JOB or OCCUPATION that meets the following criteria from which a person earns
his living.
Knowledge Exercise of skills, knowledge, judgment and discretion requiring
extensive formal criteria.
Organization - special bodies by members of the profession to set standard
codes of ethics,
Public good-The occupation serves some important public good indicated by
a code of ethics.
Who is a professional engineer?
A desire for interesting and challenging work and the pleasure in the act of
changing the world.
The joy of creative efforts. Where a scientists interest is in discovering new
technology, engineers interest is derived from creatively solving practical
problems.
The engineer shares the scientists job in understanding the laws and riddles
of the universe.
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The sheer magnitude of the nature oceans, rivers, mountains and prairies
leads engineers to build engineering marvels like ships, bridges, tunnels, etc.,
which appeal to human passion.
The pleasure of being in the presence of machines generating a comforting
and absorbing sense of a manageable, controlled and ordered world.
Strong sense of helping, of directing efforts towards easing the lot of ones
fellows.
The main pleasure of the engineer will always be to contribute to the well-being of
his fellow-men.
MODELS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
1.
SAVIOR: The representative engineer is a savior who will redeem
society from poverty, inefficiency, waste and the drudgery of manual labour.
2.
GUARDIAN: Engineers know, the directions in which and pace at
which, technology should develop.
3.
BUREAUCRATIC SERVANT: The engineer as the loyal organization
person uses special skills to solve problems.
4.
SOCIAL SERVANT: Engineers, in co-operation with management,
have the task of receiving societys directives and satisfying societys desires.
5.
SOCIAL ENABLER AND CATALYST: Engineers play a vital role
beyond mere compliance with orders. They help management and society
understand their own needs and to make informed decisions.
6.
GAME PLAYER: Engineers are neither servants nor masters of
anyone. They play by the economic game rules that happen to be in effect at a
given time.
TYPES OF ETHICAL THEORIES
S.NO
TYPES
BASED ON
Virtue ethics
Utilitarianism
Duty ethics
Rights ethics
Human Rights
VIRTUE ETHICS
The
unexamined
(Socrates, 470-399 B.C.)
life
is
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not
worth
living.
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The happy life is thought to be virtuous; now a virtuous life requires exertion
and does not consist in amusement.
(Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.)
Virtue Ethics
Focuses on the type of person we should strive to be
Actions which reflect good character traits (virtues) are inherently right
Actions which reflect bad character traits (vices) are inherently wrong
Virtue ethics are tied more to individual behavior than to that of an
organization (e.g. business, government)
ARISTOTLE says that moral virtues are tendencies, acquired through habit
formation, to reach a proper balance between extremes in conduct, emotion, desire
and attitude i.e. virtues are tendencies to find the Golden Mean between the
extremes of too much and too little.
Some of the virtues are defined using examples here:
Virtue
Courage
Truthfulness
Generosity
Friendliness
Too much
Too less
(Golden mean between extremes)
Foolhardiness
Cowardice
Revealing all in violation of Being
secretive
tact and confidentiality
lacking in candor
Wasting ones resources
Being miserly
Being annoyingly effusive
Sulky or surly
or
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
This encompasses a wide variety of the more specific virtues grouped as follows:
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1. SELF DIRECTION VIRTUES:
Fundamental virtues in exercising our moral autonomy and responsibility. e.g.
self understanding, humility, good moral judgment, courage, self discipline,
perseverance, commitments, self-respect and dignity
2. PUBLIC SPIRITED VIRTUES:
Focusing on the good of the clients and public affected by the engineers work by
. not directly and intentionally harming others i.e. nonmaleficence.
Benificence, sense of community, generosity are other virtues falling in this
category.
3. TEAMWORK VIRTUES:
Enables professionals to work successfully with others. E.g. collegiality,
cooperativeness, the ability to communicate, respect for authority, loyalty to
employers and leadership qualities.
4. PROFICIENCY VIRTUES:
Mastery of ones craft that characterize good engineering practice e.g.
competence, diligence, creativity, self-renewal through continuous education.
MORAL INTEGRITY
Moral integrity is the unity of character on the basis of moral concern, and especially
on the basis of honesty. The unity is consistency among our attitudes, emotions and
conduct in relation to justified moral values.
SELF-RESPECT
Valuing oneself in morally appropriate ways.
Integral to finding meaning in ones life and work
A pre-requisite for pursuing other moral ideals and virtues.
Self-respect is a moral concept of properly valuing oneself but self-esteem is
a psychological concept of positive attitude towards oneself.
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1. By virtue: A person is said to be a responsible person when we ascribe a
moral virtue to the person. We expect that the person is regularly concerned to
do the right thing, is conscientious and diligent in meeting obligations. In this
sense, professional responsibility is the central virtue of engineers.
2. By obligation: Moral responsibilities can be thought of as obligations or duties
to perform morally right acts.
3. By general moral capacity: When we view a person as a whole rather than
one with respect to a specific area, we are actually thinking about the active
capacity of the person for knowing how to act in morally appropriate ways e.g.
the capacity of children grow as they mature and learn.
4. By accountability: Responsibility also means being accountable, answerable
or liable to meet particular obligations. The virtue of professional responsibility
implies a willingness to be accountable for ones conduct.
5. By being blameworthy: When accountability for a wrongdoing is at issue,
responsible becomes a synonym for blameworthy. When right conduct is the
issue, the context is praiseworthiness.
CAUSAL AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Causal Responsibility: consists simply in being a cause of some event. E.g. lightning
as being responsible for a house catching fire.
Legal Responsibility: consists simply in being a cause for harm that was so unlikely
and also unforeseeable that no moral responsibility is involved.
UTILITARIANISM
That which produces the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people
(e.g. Democracy)
Tries to achieve a balance between the good and bad consequences of an
action
Tries to maximize the well-being of society and emphasizes what will provide
the most benefits to the largest group of people
This method is fundamental to many types of engineering analysis, including
risk-benefit analysis and cost-benefit analysis
Drawbacks:
Sometimes what is best for the community as a whole is bad for certain
individuals in the community
It is often impossible to know in advance which decision will lead to the
most good
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Utilitarian thinking
a standard that promotes those individual actions or rules that produce the
greatest total amount of utility to those affected.
A code that enjoins engineers to promote the safety, health, and welfare of
the public.
What is utility, though? Happiness?
Preference utilitarianism
Three approaches:
1. Cost/benefit quantifiable approach. Maximize positive utilities (benefits)
against negative utilities (costs).
2. Act utilitarian Will the course of action produce more good than any
alternative course of action that I could take?
3. Rule utilitarian Would utility be maximized if everyone did the same
thing in the same circumstances? Adoption of commonly accepted rules.
1. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS:
Assess the available options
Assess the costs and benefits of each option for the entire audience affected
Make the decision that is likely to result in the greatest benefit relative to cost.
2. ACT-UTILITARIANISM:
(professed by John Stuart Mills)
Focuses on individual actions, rather than general rules.
An act is right if it is likely to produce the most good for the most people
involved in the particular situation.
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Rules may be broken whenever doing so will produce the most good in a
specific situation.
Happiness is the only intrinsic good and all others are instrumental goods
that serve as the means of happiness.
3. RULE-UTILITARIANISM:
(professed by Richard Brandt)
This regards moral values as primary.
We should follow the rules and avoid bribes, even when those acts do not
have the best consequences in a particular situation, because the general
practice of following rules and not bribing produce the most overall good
Rules should be considered in sets called moral codes. A moral code is
justified when followed, would maximize the public good more than alternative
codes would.
DUTY ETHICS (Immanuel Kants view)
Contends that certain acts (or duties) should be performed because they are
inherently ethical such as:
be honest,
keep promises,
do not inflict sufferings on other people,
be fair,
make reparation when you have been unfair,
how gratitude for kindness extended by others
seek to improve own intelligence and character,
develop ones talents,
dont commit suicide.
Duties, rather than good consequences, is fundamental.
Individuals who recognize their ethical duties will choose ethically correct
moral actions
These duties should meet Kants 3 conditions i.e.
1. It should express respect for persons,
People deserve respect because they have capacity to be autonomous
and for exercising goodwill.
Goodwill is the conscientious and honest effort to do what is right
according to universal principles of duties.
Moral motives and intentions play a prominent role in duty ethics rather
than utilitarianism.
2. It is an universal principle
Duties are binding on us only if they are applicable to everyone. They
must be universalisable.
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3.It expresses command for autonomous moral agents. Duties prescribe certain
actions categorically, without qualifications or conditions attached. Valid
principles of duties are Categorical Imperatives. They contrast with non-moral
commands called Hypothetical Imperatives which are conditional.
The above
Drawback of Kants duty ethics: It has failed to be sensitive to how principles of duty
can conflict with each other thereby creating Moral dilemmas.
Rawls Development on Kants Duty Ethics
Rawls argues that all rational people would agree to abide by two basic moral
principles:
1. Each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty compatible with an
equal amount for others and
2. Differences in social power and economic benefits are justified only when they are
likely to benefit everyone, including members of most disadvantaged groups.
RIGHTS ETHICS (JOHN LOCKE 1632-1704)
Everyone has inherent moral rights
Everyone has rights that arise from EXISTING (i.e. right to Life, maximum
individual Liberty, and human Dignity are Fundamental Rights).
Other rights arise as a Consequence.
Duties arise because people have rights, not vice versa.
Any act that violates an individuals moral rights is ethically unacceptable.
Rights ethics was highly individualistic.
Rights are primarily entitlements that prevent other people from meddling in
ones life. These are referred to as Liberty Rights or Negative Rights that place
duties on other people not to interfere with ones life.
e.g. Individuals do not have rights to life because others have duties not to kill
them. Instead, possessing the right to life is the reason why others ought not to
kill them.
Drawbacks
How do we prioritize the rights of different individuals?
Rights ethics often promote the rights of individuals at the expense of large
groups/society
A.I.Meldens version of Rights Ethics
Human rights are intimately related to communities of people.
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This version is known as POSITIVE WELFARE RIGHTS and is defined as
rights to community benefits for living a minimally decent human life.
We always do what we most want to do. e.g., a man who helps others has
chosen to do so, so he sees doing it, is in his self-interest
We do what makes us feel good. e.g., a man who helps others must get
pleasure from doing it hence it is in his self-interest
The Problem of Counter Examples
What about charity and pity?
These require the egoist to distinguish selfish and unselfish acts from selfish and
unselfish motives
Charity I enjoy showing my power
Pity I worry that it might happen to me
So again, doing these, we act from self-interest
Confusion over self-interest and selfishness
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Ethical Egoism
A different view, which talks of morality as only the pursuit of self interest
Self interest is a rational concern requiring consideration of ones long-term
interests.
E.g., taking bribe may appear to serve ones self interest but it does not serve the
long-term interest of self. Hence taking bribe is not acceptable since it would not
do any good on a long-term. This was professed by Thomas Hobbes (15881679) and Ayn Rand (1905-1982).
Ayn Rand with only one life to live, the individual is of utmost importance
It is in ones self-interest to adopt the Moral Point of View (Hobbes Social
Contract)
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This is either true or false (anthropology a study of mankind , its customs,
beliefs, etc.can figure it out)
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Moral issues and religious belief are related in several positive ways.
First, they are shaped over time from the central moral values of major world
religions.
Second, religious views often support moral responsibility by providing
additional motivation for being moral.
Third, sometimes religions set a higher moral standard than is conventional.
Societies often benefit from a variety of religions that make prominent
particular virtues, inspiring their members to pursue them beyond what is
ordinarily seen as morally obligatory.
Divine Command Ethic:
This says that an act which is right is commanded by god and the one which
is wrong is forbidden by God.
The difficulty in this is to know precisely what Gods commands are and in
knowing whether God exists.
We can view that moral reasons are not reducible to religious matters, although
religious belief may provide an added inspiration for responding to them.
Uses Of Ethical Theories
1. Ethical theories aid in identifying the moral considerations or reasons that
constitute a dilemma.
2. They provide a precise sense of what kinds of information are relevant to
solving moral development.
3. They sometimes, offer ways to rank the relevant moral considerations in order
of importance and provide a rough guidance in solving moral problems.
4. The theories help us identify the full moral ramifications of alternative courses
of action, urging a wide perspective on the moral implications of the options
and providing a systematic framework of comparing alternatives.
5. The theories augment the precision with which we use moral terms and they
provide frame works for moral reasoning when discussing moral issues with
colleagues.
6. By providing frame works for development of moral arguments, the theories
strengthen our ability to reach balanced and insightful judgments.
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ENGINEERING AS EXPERIMENTATION
The normal design process is thus iterative (modifications being made on the
basis of feedback information acquired from the tests).
Even though various tests and experiments are conducted at various stages, the
engineering project as a whole in its totality can be viewed as an experiment.
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Engineers repeat the past mistakes of others due to the following reasons.
Examples:
1.
The Titanic lacked sufficient number of life boats resulting in the death of 1522
out of 2227 (life boat capacity available was only 825), a few decades later Arctic
perished due to the same problem.
2.
In June 1966, a section of the Milford Haven Bridge in Wales collapsed during
construction. A bridge of similar design, erected by the same bridge- builder in
Melbourne, Australia, also partially collapsed in the month of October, same year.
During this incident 33 people were killed and many were injured.
3.
Malfunctions occurred at nuclear reactors at various locations and the
information reports were with Babcock and Wilcox, the reactor manufacturer. In spite
of these, no attention was paid leading to a pressure relief valve giving rise to the
Three Mile Island nuclear accident on March 28, 1979.
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Conditions defining Informed or Valid Consent
a. The consent is given voluntarily
b. The consent is based on information a rational person would want,
together with any other information requested and presented to them in
understandable form.
c. The consenter was competent to process the information and make
rational decisions.
d. Information has been widely disseminated.
e. The subjects consent is offered by proxy by a group that collectively
represents many subjects like interests, concerns and exposure to risk.
Engineering experiments are not conducted to gain new knowledge unlike scientific
experiments. Is this distinction necessary?
This distinction is not vital because we are concerned about the manner in which the
experiment is conducted, such as valid consent of human subjects being sought,
safety measures taken and means exist for terminating the experiment at any time
and providing all participants a safe exit.
Features of morally responsible engineers in social experimentation
Conscientiousness: A primary obligation to protect the safety of human subjects and
respect their right of consent.
Relevant information: A constant awareness of the experimental nature of any
project, imaginative forecasting of its possible side effects and a reasonable effort to
monitor them.
Moral autonomy: Autonomous, personal involvement in all steps of the project.
Accountability: Accepting accountability for the results of the project.
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS:
Conscientious moral commitment means sensitivity to the full range of
relevant moral values.
Sensitivity to responsibilities that is relevant.
Willingness to develop the skill and expend the effort needed to reach the
best balance possible among these considerations.
Conscientiousness means consciousness because mere intent is not
sufficient.
Conceiving engineering as social experimentation restores the vision of engineers as
guardians of the public interest in that they are duty bound to guard the welfare and
safety of those affected by engg projects.
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RELEVANT INFORMATION:
Conscientiousness is blind without relevant factual information. Moral concern
involves a commitment to obtain and assess all available pertinent information.
Another dimension to factual information is the consequences of what one does.
While regarding engg as social experimentation points out the importance of context,
it also urges the engineer to view his or her specialized activities in a project as part
of a larger whole having a social impact that may involve a variety of unintended
effects. It may be better to practice defensive engg (Chauncy Starr) or preventive
engg (Ruth Davis).
MORAL AUTONOMY
People are morally autonomous when their moral conduct and principles of
action are their own.
Moral beliefs and attitudes must be a critical reflection and not a passive
adoption of the particular conventions of ones society, religion or profession.
Moral beliefs and attitudes cannot be agreed to formally and adhered to
merely verbally.
They must be integrated into the core of ones personality and should lead to
committed action.
It is wrong to think that as an employee when one performs acts serving
companys interests, one is no longer morally and personally identified with
ones actions.
Viewing engg as a social experimentation helps to overcome this flawed
thought and restores a sense of autonomous participation in ones work.
As an experimenter, an engineer is exercising the specialized training
that forms the core of ones identity as a professional.
A social experiment that can result in unknown consequences should
help inspire a critical and questioning attitude about the adequacy of
current economic and safety standards.
In turn, this leads to better personal involvement with work.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Responsible people accept moral responsibility for their actions.
Accountability is the willingness to submit ones actions to moral scrutiny and
be open and responsive to the assessment of others.
It should be understood as being culpable and blameworthy for misdeeds.
Submission to an employers authority creates in many people a narrow sense of
accountability for the consequences of their action. This is because of
i) Only a small contribution is made by one individual, when large scale
engineering work is fragmented. The final product which is far away from ones
immediate workplace, does not give a proper understanding of the consequences
of ones action.
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ii) Due to the fragmentation of work, a vast diffusion of accountability takes
place. The area of personal accountability is delimited to the portion of work
being carried out by one.
iii) The pressure to move on to another new project does not allow one to
complete the observations long enough. This makes people accountable only for
meeting schedules and not for the consequences of action.
iv) To avoid getting into legal issues, engineers tend to concentrate more on
legal liabilities than the containment of the potential risks involved in their area of
work.
Viewing engineering as a social experimentation makes one overcome these
difficulties and see the problem in whole rather than as part.
ENGINEERING CODES OF ETHICS
Engineering Codes of Ethics have evolved over time
EARLY CODES
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Conversely, the public has similar problems in seeking redress through legal
channels
Objections to Existing Engineering Codes of Ethics:
Depending upon your discipline and organizational affiliations, you may be bound
by one, two or even more ethical codes:
Discipline related (ASME, IEEE, ASCE, IIE etc.)
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
Employee codes (corporation, university, etc.)
Union Codes
Engineering Ethics
Our engineering ethics codes are derived from a Western cultural tradition
Ancient Greeks
Judeo-Christian religions
Philosophers and thinkers (e.g. Locke, Kant, Mills)
The Hammurabi Code
If a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, and the
house he has built has fallen down and so caused the death of the householder, that
builder shall be put to death. If it causes the death of the householders son, they
shall
put
the
builders
son
to
death.
(Hammurabi, King of Babylon, 1758 B.C.)
Code of Ethics for Engineers
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
(ABET)
The Fundamental Principles
Engineers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor, and dignity of the
engineering profession by:
using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of the human race;
being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the public, their employers, and
clients;
striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession.
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2. Support:
Codes give positive support to those seeking to act ethically.
An engineer under pressure to act unethically can use one of the publicly
proclaimed codes to get support for his stand on specific moral issues.
Codes also serve as legal support for engineers.
3. Deterrence and discipline:
Codes can be used as a basis for conducting investigations on unethical
conduct.
They also provide a deterrent for engineers to act immorally.
Engineers who are punished by professional societies for proven unethical
behaviour by revoking the rights to practice as engineers are also subjected to
public ridicule and loss of respect from colleagues and local community.
This helps to produce ethical conduct even though this can be viewed as a
negative way of motivation.
4. Education and mutual understanding:
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The codes can be used for discussion and reflection on moral issues and thereby
improve the understanding of moral responsibilities among all engineers, clients,
public and good organizations.
5. Contributing to the professions public image:
Codes present the engineering profession as an ethically committed society in the
eyes of the public thus enhancing their image.
6. Protecting status quo:
Codes establish ethical conventions, which can help promote an agreed upon
minimum level of ethical conduct.
7. Promoting business interests:
Codes can place unwarranted restraints of commerce on business dealings.
Relative importance of the various functions of codes of ethics
The perspective of engg as social experimentation clearly emphasizes the
primary role supportive function of the codes of ethics. This is so because,
only this support enables engineers, speak out clearly and openly their views,
to those affected by engg projects.
The, inspiration and guidance and educative functions are also important in
promoting mutual understanding and in motivating engineers to act with
higher moral standards.
The disciplinary function in engg codes is of secondary importance. Those
with unethical conduct when exposed are subject to law. Developing
elaborate paralegal procedures within professional societies duplicates a
function which can be done better by legal system. At best, codes should try
to discipline engineers in areas which are not covered by law.
The worst abuse of codes has been to restrict honest moral effort in the name
of preserving professions public mage and protecting status quo. The best
way to increase trust is by encouraging and aiding engineers to speak freely
and responsibly about public safety.
Limitations of Codes of Ethics
1. Codes are restricted to general and vague wording. They cannot be straightaway
applied to all situations. It is impossible to foresee the full range of moral problems
that can arise in a complex profession like engg.
2. It is easy for different clauses of codes to come into conflict with each other.
Usually codes provide no guidance as to which clause should have priority in those
cases, creating moral dilemmas.
3. They cannot serve as the final moral authority for professional conduct. If the code
of a professional society is taken as the last word, it means that we are getting into a
particular set of conventions i.e. ethical conventionalism.
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4. Andrew Oldenquist and Edward Slowter pointed out how the existence of separate
codes for different professional societies can give members the feeling that ethical
conduct is more relative than it is and that it can convey to the public the view that
none is really right. The current codes are by no means perfect but are definitely
steps in the right direction.
The problems of law in engineering
1. The greatest problem of law in engg is of minimal compliance. Engineers and
employers can search for loop holes in the law to barely keep to its letter while
violating its spirit. Engineers will tend to refer to standard readymade specifications
rather than come up with innovative ideas. Minimal compliance led to the tragedy of
the Titanic.
2. Continually updating laws and regulations may be counter-productive and will
make law always lag behind technology. This also overburdens the rules and
regulators.
3. Many laws are non-laws i.e. laws without enforceable sanctions. These merely
serve as window dressing, frequently gives a false sense of security to the public.
4. The opponents of the law may burden it intentionally with many unreasonable
provisions that a repeal will not be far off.
5. Highly powerful organizations, like the government can violate the laws when they
think they can get away with it by inviting would be challengers, to face them in
lengthy and costly court proceedings. This also creates frustration with the law.
Role of law in engineering
It is wrong to write off rule-making and rule following as futile. Good laws,
effectively enforced, clearly produce benefits.
Reasonable minimum standards are ensured of professional conduct.
It also provides a self-interested motive for most people and corporations to
comply.
They also serve as powerful support and defense for those who wish to act
ethically in situations where ethical conduct might not be welcome.
Viewing engineering as social experimentation provides engineers with a
better perspective on laws and regulations.
Precise rules and enforceable sanctions are appropriate in cases of ethical
misconduct that involve violations of well established and regularly
reexamined procedures that have as their purpose the safety of public.
In areas of experimentation, rules must not attempt to cover all possible
outcomes of an experiment, nor must they force the engineer to adopt a
rigidly specified course of action. Here the regulations should be broad based
guidelines but should hold the engineer accountable for his or her decisions.
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People as Consumers:
Active Consumers: directly involve themselves e.g., mowing the lawn,
washing clothes or toasting bread.
Passive Consumers: have less choice and less control e.g., Water, Electricity,
Petrol,
Bystanders: e.g., exposed to Pollution from unknown sources
.What is safe to Entrepreneurs, may not be so to Engineers. e.g., Pilots: "Indian
Airports are not safe; Low Vision in Fog
What is safe to Engineers, may not be so to Public.
Machine
Typically several groups of people are involved in safety matters but have their own
interests at stake. Each group may differ in what is safe and what is not.
Concept of Safety
1. A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for John A.
Shedd
2. A thing is safe if its risks are judged to be acceptable - William W. Lawrence
We buy an ill-designed Iron box in a sale-> Underestimating risk
We judge fluoride in water can kill lots of people -> Overestimating risk
We hire a taxi, without thinking about its safety -> Not estimating risk
How does a judge pass a judgement on safety in these 3 cases?
.So, this definition won't do in real life.
Then, what is acceptable also depends upon the individual or groups value
judgment. Hence a better, working definition of concept of safety could be,
A thing is safe (to a certain degree) with respect to a given person or group at a
given time if, were they fully aware of its risks and expressing their most settled
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values, they would judge those risks to be acceptable (to that certain degree). Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger
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Voluntary risk and Control
A person is said to take VOLUNTARY RISK
-when he is subjected to risk by either his own actions or action taken by others and
-volunteers to take that risk without any apprehension.
-For example, John and Ann Smith enjoy riding motorcycles over rough ground for
amusement. They take voluntary risk, part of being engaged in such a potentially
dangerous sport.
Connected to this notion of voluntarism is the matter of Control. In the example cited,
the Smiths are aware of the high probability of accident figures in such a sport, but
they display characteristically unrealistic confidence of most people when they
believe the dangers to be under their control. In terms of engineering as social
experimentation, people are more willing to be the subjects of their own experiments
than of someone elses (whether social experiment or not).
Chauncey Starr informs us that individuals are more ready to assume voluntary risks
than involuntary risks, even when voluntary risks are 1000 times more likely to
produce a fatality than the involuntary ones.
A DISASTER = A seriously disruptive event + A state of unprepared ness.
e.g., Titanic collision with an iceberg, at night: Emergency
Fewer lifeboats, inadequate training and
warnings of icebergs
unheeded -> Disaster.
Effect of information on risk assessments
The manner in which information necessary for decision making is presented can
greatly influence how risks are perceived. Consider this example:
In a particular case of disaster management, the only options available are provided
in 2 different ways to the public for one to be chosen (where lives of 600 people are
at stake).
Alternate 1
If program A is followed, 200 people will be saved. If Program B is followed, 1/3
probability is 600 people will be saved and 2/3 probability that nobody will be saved.
Response
72% of the target group chose option A and 28% option B
Alternate 2
If program A is followed, 400 people will die. If Program B is followed, 1/3 probability
is that nobody will die and 2/3 probability that 600 people will die.
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Response
This time only 22% of the target group chose option A and 78% option B
Conclusion:
1.
The option perceived as yielding firm gain will tend to be preferred over those
from which gains are perceived as risky or only probable.
2.
Option emphasizing firm losses will tend to be avoided in favour of those
whose chances of success are perceived as probable.
Secondary Costs of Products
Cost of products is High, if designed unsafely
Returns and Warranty Expenses
Loss of Customer Goodwill
Cost of litigation
Loss of Customers due to injuries in using it
Cost of rework, lost time in attending to design problems
Manufacturers understanding of the risk in a product is necessary:
To help reduce secondary costs
To know the possible risk for purposes of pricing, disclaimers, legal terms and
conditions, etc.
To know the cost of reducing the risks
To take a decision before finalizing the design.
Buyers understanding of the risk in a product is necessary:
To judge whether he/she wants to take the risks
To judge whether the risk vs. costs justifies taking the risk.
JOB RELATED RISKS
Many workers are taking risks in their jobs in their stride like being exposed to
asbestos.
Exposure to risks on a job is in one sense of voluntary nature since one can
always refuse to submit to the work or may have control over how the job is
done.
But generally workers have no choice other than what they are told to do
since they want to stick to the only job available to them.
But they are not generally informed about the exposure to toxic substances
and other dangers which are not readily seen, smelt, heard or otherwise
sensed.
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Occupational health and safety regulations and unions can have a better say
in correcting these situations but still things are far below expected safety
standards.
Engineers while designing work stations must take into account the casual
attitude of workers on safety (esp. when they are paid on piece rate).
Problems faced by engineers about public concept of safety
The optimistic attitude that things that are familiar, that have not caused harm before
and over which we have some control present no risks.
The serious shock people feel when an accident kills or maims people in large
numbers or harms those we know, even though statistically speaking such accidents
might occur infrequently.
Safety in a commodity comes with a price Explain.
Absolute safety is never possible to attain and safety can be improved in an
engineering product only with an increase in cost.
On the other hand, unsafe products incur secondary costs to the producer beyond
the primary (production) costs, like warranty costs loss of goodwill, loss of
customers, litigation costs, downtime costs in manufacturing, etc.
Figure indicates that P- Primary costs are high for a highly safe (low risk) product
and S- Secondary costs are high for a highly risky (low safe) product.
If we draw a curve T=P+S as shown, there is a point at which costs are minimum
below which the cost cannot be reduced.
If the risk at Minimum Total Cost Point is not acceptable, then the producer has to
choose a lower acceptable risk value in which case the total cost will be higher than
M and the product designed accordingly.
It should now be clear that safety comes with a price only
.
Knowledge of risk for better safety
Robert Stephenson writes that all the accidents, the harms caused and the
means used to repair the damage should be recorded for the benefit of the
younger Members of Profession.
A faithful account of those accidents and the damage containment was really
more valuable than the description of successful work.
Hence it is imperative that knowledge of risks will definitely help to attain
better safety.
But it should be borne in mind, that still gaps remain, because
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i)there are some industries where information is not freely shared and
ii)there are always new applications of old technology that render the
available information less useful.
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Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) :
A system failure is proposed and then events are traced back to possible causes at
the component level. The reverse of the fault-tree analysis is event tree analysis.
This method most effectively illustrates the disciplined approach required to capture
as much as possible of everything that affects proper functioning and safety of a
complex system.
Risk Benefit Analysis
Ethical Implications
When is someone entitled to impose a risk on another in view of a supposed
benefit to others?
Consider the worst case scenarios of persons exposed to maximum risks
while they are reaping only minimum benefits. Are their rights violated?
Are they provided safer alternatives?
Engineers should keep in mind that risks to known persons are perceived
differently from statistical risks
Engineers may have no control over grievance redressal.
Conceptual difficulties in Risk-Benefit Analysis
Both risks and benefits lie in future
Heavy discounting of future because the very low present values of
cost/benefits do not give a true picture of future sufferings.
Both have related uncertainties but difficult to arrive at expected values
What if benefits accrue to one party and risks to another?
Can we express risks & benefits in a common set of units?
e.g. Risks can be expressed in one set of units (deaths on the
highway) and benefits in another (speed of travel)?
Many projects, which are highly beneficial to the public, have to be safe also.
Hence these projects can be justified using RISK-BENEFIT analysis. In these
studies, one should find out
i) What are the risks involved?
ii) What are the benefits that would accrue?
iii) When would benefits be derived and when risks have to be faced?
iv) Who are the ones to be benefited and who are the ones subjected to risk-are they
the same set of people or different.
The issue here is not, say, cost-effective design but it is only cost of risk taking Vs
benefit analysis. Engineers should first recommend the project feasibility based on
risk-benefit analysis and once it is justified, then they may get into cost-effectiveness
without increasing the risk visualized.
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In all this, engineers should ask themselves this ethical question: Under what
conditions, is someone in society entitled to impose a risk on someone else on
behalf of a supposed benefit to others.
Difficulties in assessing Personal Risks
For example, how to assign a rupee value to ones life. There is no over the
counter trade in lives.
Even for a sale, it has to be clear under what conditions the sale is to take
place.
If one buys a kg of rice it matters whether it is just one additional purchase
one makes regularly or it is the first rice purchase after quite sometime.
Risks and benefits to public are more easily determined than to individuals
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)- proposed a value
for life based on:
loss of future income
other costs associated with the accident
estimate of quantifiable losses in social welfare resulting from a fatality
NOT a proper basis for determining the optimal expenditure allocated
to saving lives
Accounting publicly for benefits and risks
Engineers should account publicly for benefits and risks in the following manner:
Engineers must remain as objective as humanly possible in their
investigations and conclusions.
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They must also state openly any personal biases that they may have about
the project being investigated.
Engineers, even if they are acknowledged experts, may not have complete
knowledge of the issues at hand.
They should, if necessary, admit their lack of knowledge, in any particular
area publicly.
A willingness to admit uncertainty and also to reveal methodology and
sources particularly when numerical data is presented.
The way statistical information is presented can create misconceptions in the
public mind. Hence it should be presented in a way to improve realistic
interpretations.
They must consider the views of the parties affected by the project under
study before coming to conclusions.
The type of action taken should be morally evaluated regardless of its
consequences. If it is wrong to violate certain rights, then figuring out the
benefit of the consequences of doing so is irrelevant.
Difficulties in establishing Safeguards
Incomplete knowledge of the engineering subject
Refusal to face hard questions caused by lack of knowledge
False sense of security
e.g. Nuclear waste disposal problem
Caution in stating probabilities of rare events
Varying understanding of risk based on presentation of facts
Risk assessments based on incorrect/unacceptable assumptions/data
Only a few persons/groups participate in the exercise
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Magnetic door catch introduced on refrigerators
Prevent death by asphyxiation of children accidentally trapped inside
The catch now permits the door to opened from inside easily
Cheaper than older types of latches
Dead-man Handle for Drivers in trains
Semaphore signaling
Volkswagen's car safety belt
Attachment on the door so that belt automatically goes in place on
entry
Liability
Early logic and social philosophy:
(Richard C. Vaughan)
Caveat Emptor: buyer beware
Examine what you want before you buy
If he is negligent, he suffers the bad bargain.
Law will not aid those who are negligent
Privity of Contract: User, if he is not a party to the contract, has no rights for
any claim ( user buys from the retailer and not from the manufacturer).
Gradually....
Manufacturer was made liable for injuries resulting from negligence in the
design/manufacture
The new law: concept of Strict Liability was established in the case Green
man vs. Yuba Power Products in California.
If the product sold is defective,
the manufacturer is liable
for any harm that results to users
Implications to Engineers:
Engineers must weigh chances of defect causing injury against cost of
minimizing defects
Minimal compliance is insufficient
standards not enough
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Independent engineers can write liability limits into their contracts
Good knowledge of liability is necessary for engineers
SAFE EXIT
It is almost impossible to build a completely safe product or one that will never fail.
When there is a failure of the product SAFE EXIT should be provided.
Safe exit is to assure that
i) when a product fails, it will fail safely,
ii) that the product can be abandoned safely and iii) that the user can safely escape
the product.
More than the questions of who will build, install, maintain and pay for a safe exit, the
most important question is who will recognize the need for a safe exit. This
responsibility should be an integral part of the experimental procedure.
Some examples of providing SAFE EXIT:
Ships need lifeboats with sufficient spaces for all passengers and crew
members.
Buildings need usable fire escapes
Operation of nuclear power plants calls for realistic means of evacuating
nearby communities
Provisions are needed for safe disposal of dangerous materials and products.
Colleagiality & Its Elements
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It should not be reduced to group interest but should be a shared devotion
public good.
It is not defaming colleagues, but it does not close the eyes to
unethical
practices of the co-professionals, either.
for
Classifications of Loyalty
Agency-Loyalty
o
o
o
o
Identification-Loyalty:
o It has to do with attitudes, emotions and a sense of personal identity.
o Seeks to meet ones moral duties with personal attachment and affirmation.
o It is against
detesting their employers and companies, and do work
reluctantly and horribly (this is construed as disloyalty)
This means
o Avoid conflicts of interest,
o Inform employers of any possible conflicts of interest,
o Protect confidential information,
o Be honest in making estimates,
o Admit ones errors, etc.
Loyalty - Obligation of Engineers
Agency-Loyalty
o Engineers are hired to do their duties.
o Hence obligated to employers within proper limits
Identification-Loyalty
Obligatory on two conditions;
1. When some important goals are met by and through a group in which the
engineers participate
2. When employees are treated fairly, receiving the share of benefits and
burdens.
But clearly, identification-loyalty is a virtue and not strictly an obligation.
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1. Acting on professional commitments to the public is more effective to serve a
company than just following company orders.
2. Loyalty to employers may not mean obeying ones immediate supervisor.
3. Professional obligations to both an employer and to the public might
strengthen rather than contradict each other.
Expert authority
The possession of special knowledge, skill or competence to perform some task or
to give sound advice.
Engineers may have expert authority but their institutional authority, may only be, to
provide management with analysis of possible ways to perform a technical task, after
which they are restricted to following managements directive about which option to
pursue. In large companies, engineers, advisors and consultants in staff function
carry expert authority, while institutional authority is vested only with line managers.
Authority Vs Power
Ineffective persons, even if vested with authority by their institution, may not be able
to summon the power their position allows them to exercise. On the other hand,
people who are effective may be able to wield greater power that goes beyond the
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authority attached to the positions they hold. Highly respected engineers of proven
integrity belong to this class.
Authority - Morally justified
Observations on authority.
o An employer who has institutional authority may direct engineers to do
something that is not morally justified.
o Engineers may feel that they have an institutional duty to obey a directive that
is morally unjustified, but their moral duty, all things considered, is not to obey.
o To decide whether a specific act of exercising institutional authority is morally
justified, we need to know whether the institutional goals are themselves
morally permissible or desirable and whether that act violates basic moral
duties.
Zone Of Acceptance of Authority
A subordinate is said to accept authority whenever he permits his behaviour to be
guided by the decision of a superior, without independently examining the merits of
that decision
- Herbert Simon
o Simon notes that all employees tend to have a zone of acceptance in which
they are willing to accept their employers authority.
o Within that zone, an individual, relaxing his own critical faculties, permits the
decision of the employer to guide him.
o Employees generally do not make an issue of questionable incidents on
morality, out of a sense of responsibility to give their employer leeway within
which to operate and often not to risk their jobs.
o The problem increases when employees slowly expand the boundaries of
tolerance and rationalize it.
This only shows that engineers should never stop critically reviewing the employers
directives especially on moral issues.
Faithful Agent Argument
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code states,
The engineer will act in professional matters for client, or employer as a
faithful agent or trusteeHe will not actively participate in strikes, picket
lines or other coercive action
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meaning that when one is a faithful trustee of ones employer he cannot actively
participate in any collective forcible action.
Board of Ethical Review argued that engineers have a higher standard than self
interest and that their ethical duty is to act for their employer as a faithful agent or
trustee.
Collective bargaining is inconsistent with loyalty to employers because it
o
is against the desires of the employer
o
uses force or coercion against the employer and
o
involves collective and organized opposition.
But every instance of such conduct need not be unethical.
An example:
Three engineers sincerely feel that they are underpaid. After their representations to
their bosses are in vain, they threaten their employer, politely, that they would seek
employment elsewhere. Here, even though, they act against the desires of their
employer and have acted collectively, they have not acted unethically or violated
their duty.
Conclusion: Faithful agency only concerns with performing ones duty but does not
mean that safety, salary and other economical benefits cannot be negotiated from a
position of strength. Employees duty to employer does not mean unlimited sacrifice
of self-interest.
Public Service Argument- Collective bargaining.
o Public Service Argument is an argument against collective bargaining.
o The paramount duty of engineers is to serve the public.
o Unions, by definition, promote the interests of their members and whenever
there is a clash of interests, the interest of the general public is ignored by
them. Though the argument is a valid one, it looks at the worst possible
scenarios with unions and decides that engineering unions act only
irresponsibly.
o A body of engineers can promote engineers interest within limits set by
professional concern for the public good.
Benefits of Collective Bargaining.
a) Unions have created healthy salaries and high standard of living of
employees.
b) They give a sense of participation in company decision making.
c) They are a good balance to the power of employers to fire employees at will.
d) They provide an effective grievance redressal procedure for employee
complaints.
Harms Caused by Collective Bargaining.
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a) Unions are devastating the economy of a country, being a main source of
inflation
b) With unions, there is no congenial (friendly), cooperative decision making.
c) Unions does not promote quality performance by making job promotion and
retention based on seniority.
d) They encourage unrest and strained relations between employees and
employers.
Confidentiality or confidential information
o
o
Privileged information:
Information available only on the basis of special privilege such as
granted to an employee working on a special assignment.
Proprietary information:
Information that a company owns or is the proprietor of.
This is primarily used in legal sense.
Also called Trade Secret. A trade secret can be virtually any type of
information that has not become public and which an employer has taken
steps to keep secret.
Patents:
Differ from trade secrets.
Legally protect specific products from being manufactured and sold by
competitors without the express permission of the patent holder.
They have the drawback of being public and competitors may easily work
around them by creating alternate designs.
Obligation of Confidentiality
1. Based on ordinary moral considerations:
I.
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II.
III.
2.
The professional has some additional or side interest that could threaten
good judgment in serving the interests of the employee or client. E.g. When an
engineer is paid based on a percentage of the cost of the design and there is
no incentive for him to
cut costs- The distrust caused by this situation
compromises the
engineers ability to cut costs and calls into question his
judgement.
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A gift is a bribe if you cant eat, drink or smoke it in a day.
If you think that your offer of acceptance of a particular gift would have grave or
merely embarrassing consequences for your company if made public, then the gift
should be considered a bribe.
Bribe can be said to be a substantial amount of money or goods offered beyond a
stated business contract with the aim of winning an advantage in gaining or keeping
the contract.
Here substantial means that which is sufficient to distort the judgment of a typical
person.
Conflict of Interest created by Interest in other companies
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o
In the absence of either of these options, to examine ones own motives and
use the ethical problem solving techniques.
o
One can look carefully into the professional codes of ethics which uniformly
forbid conflicts of interest. Some of these codes have very explicit statements
that can help determine whether or not the situation constitutes conflict of
interest.
Types Of Crime
Domestic crime
Non-accidental crime committed by members
of the family
Professional Crime
When crime is pursued as a profession or day
to day
occupation
Blue collar crime (or) Street crime
Crime against person, property (theft, assault
on a person, rape)
Victimless crime
Person who commits the crime is the victim of
the crime. E.g. Drug addiction
Hate crime
Crime done on the banner of religion,
community, linguistics
Occupational Crime
Occupational crimes are illegal acts made possible through ones
lawful employment.
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Price Fixing
An act was passed, which forbade (prevented) companies from jointly setting prices
in ways that restrain free competition and trade. Unfortunately, many senior people,
well respected and positioned were of the opinion that price fixing was good for their
organizations and the public.
Employees Endangering Lives of Employees
Employers indulge in exposing their employees to safety hazards. They escape
criminal action against them, by paying nominal compensations even if their crimes
are proved in court. And even this happens only when the victim sues company for
damages under civil law.
Engineers Moral Rights
Engineers moral rights fall into categories of human, employee, contractual and
professional rights.
Professional rights:
The right to form and express ones professional judgment freely
The right to refuse to carry out illegal and unethical activity
The right to talk publicly about ones work within bounds set by confidentiality
obligation
The right to engage in the activities of professional societies
The right to protect the clients and the public from the dangers that might arise from
ones work
The right to professional recognition of ones services.
Right of Professional Conscience
o There is one basic and generic professional right of engineers, the moral right
to exercise responsible professional judgment in pursuing professional
responsibilities.
o Pursuing these responsibilities involves exercising both technical judgment
and reasoned moral convictions.
o This basic right can be referred to as the right of professional conscience.
Right of Conscientious Refusal
The right of Conscientious refusal is the right to refuse to engage in unethical
behaviour and to refuse to do so solely because one views it as unethical.
Two situations to be considered.
1. Where there is widely shared agreement in profession as to whether an act is
unethical
Here, professionals have a moral right to refuse to participate in such activities.
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2. Where there is room for disagreement among reasonable people over whether an
act is unethical.
Here, it is possible that there could be different ethical view points from the
professional and the employer.
In such cases the engineers can have a limited right to turn down assignments that
violates their personal conscience only in matters of great importance such as
threats to human life.
This right also depends on the ability of the employer to reassign the engineer to
alternate projects without serious economic hardships to the orgn.
The right of professional conscience does not extend to the right to be paid for not
working.
Right to Recognition
Right to Recognition involves two parts.
The right to reasonable remuneration gives the moral right for fighting against
corporations making good profits while engineers are being paid poorly. Also is the
case where patents are not being rewarded properly by the corporations benefiting
from such patents.
The other right to recognition is non-monetary part of recognition to the work of
engineers.
But what is reasonable remuneration or reasonable recognition is a difficult question
and should be resolved by discussions between employees and employers only.
The most basic human right, which needs no justification, as per A.I.Meldon,
is to pursue ones legitimate (those that do not violate others rights) interests.
o
The right to pursue legitimate interests gives a person right to pursue
professional moral obligations.
o
This may be viewed as a human right of conscience directly derived from the
basic human right.
2. Duty Ethics:
o
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o
3. Utilitarianism:
o
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3. Creation of an Ethics Review Committee with freedom to investigate
complaints and make independent recommendations to top management.
4. Top priority should be given to promote ethical conduct in the organization by
top management.
5. Engineers should be allowed to discuss in confidence, their moral concerns
with the ethics committee of their professional societies.
6. When there are differences on ethical issues between engineers and
management, ethics committee members of the professional societies should
be allowed to enter into these discussions.
The organization will not also discriminate against an employee for engaging
in outside activities or for objecting to an organization directive that violates
common norms of morality.
No employee who alleges that her/his rights have been violated will be
discharged or penalized without a fair hearing by the employer organization.
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o But when the question of justification arises, we will call it Preferential
Treatment.
Many of the rights of the ownership common to real and personal property are
also common to Intellectual Property
DESIGN
TRADE MARK
Trade Mark is a name or symbol adopted for identifying goods
Public can identify from the Trade Mark from whom the product is emanating
Trade Marks protection is given for an industrial product by the Government
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Examples: Channel No.5s smell, Jacque Villeneuves face!
COPY RIGHTS
A patentee gets the exclusive monopoly right against the public at large to
use,sell or manufacture his patented device.
A patentee can enforce his monopoly right against any infringement in the court
of law for suitable damages or profit of account.
The Government ensures full disclosure of the invention to the public for
exchange of exclusive monopoly patent right to the inventor.
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disabled and injuring 100,000 people. Ten years later, it increased to 4000 to 7000
deaths and injuries to 600,000.
Risks taken:
Storage tank of Methyl Isocyanate gas was filled to more than 75% capacity as
against Union Carbides spec. that it should never be more than 60% full.
The companys West Virginia plant was controlling the safety systems and
detected leakages thro computers but the Bhopal plant only used manual labour
for control and leak detection.
The Methyl Isocyanate gas, being highly concentrated, burns parts of body with
which it comes into contact, even blinding eyes and destroying lungs.
Causal Factors:
Three protective systems out of service
Plant was understaffed due to costs.
Very high inventory of MIC, an extremely toxic material.
The accident occurred in the early morning.
Most of the people killed lived in a shanty (poorly built) town located very
close to the plant fence.
Workers made the following attempts to save the plant:
They tried to turn on the plant refrigeration system to cool down the
environment and slow the reaction. (The refrigeration system had been
drained of coolant weeks before and never refilled -- it cost too much.)
They tried to route expanding gases to a neighboring tank. (The tank's
pressure gauge was broken and indicated the tank was full when it was really
empty.)
They tried to purge the gases through a scrubber. (The scrubber was
designed for flow rates, temperatures and pressures that were a fraction of
what was by this time escaping from the tank. The scrubber was as a result
ineffective.)
They tried to route the gases through a flare tower -- to burn them away. (The
supply line to the flare tower was broken and hadn't been replaced.)
They tried to spray water on the gases and have them settle to the ground -by this time the chemical reaction was nearly completed. (The gases were
escaping at a point 120 feet above ground; the hoses were designed to shoot
water up to 100 feet into the air.)
In just 2 hours the chemicals escaped to form a deadly cloud over hundreds of
thousands of people incl. poor migrant labourers who stayed close to the plant.
2. What are the benefits of Multi National corporations doing business in less
developed countries for both the MNCs and the host country?
Benefits to MNCs:
Inexpensive labour
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6. What can MNCs do to promote morally just measures? Or what are Richard
T. De Georges guidelines for moral promotion by MNCs?
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MNCs business should do more overall good than bad towards the economy of
the host country than doing good to a few corrupt leaders in oppressive regimes.
They must respect laws and regulations of the local country as long as they do
not violate basic moral rights.
They must pay a living wage, even when local companies fail to pay such a
wage, but otherwise pay only enough to attract competent workers.
It is permissible for the US to transfer dangerous technology like asbestos
production to another country and then simply adopt that countrys safety laws only
under the following conditions.
Good judgements exercised in good faith, than abstract principles, is the only
way to address practical problems.
7. Write in brief about Technology Transfer and Appropriate Technology?
7.1. Technology Transfer:
The process of moving technology to a novel setting and implementing there.
Novel setting is any situation containing at least one new variable relevant to
success or failure of given technology
Intermediate technology
8. How is environment degraded?
1. By causing injuries to nature
i.Usually this damage is caused slowly
ii.Sometimes this also happens in sudden strikes
2. Misuse of our resources, fouling our environment
3. Practicing growths in consumptions and population leading to nonavailability of resources
4. Industrial activity denudes land(to destroy all plant and animal life), pollutes
atmosphere and water, reduces the yield from sea and land
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9. What are the questions to be answered by Engineers in their role as
experimenters?
Snowmelt into water releases huge amount of acid which got frozen during
winter.
Effects:
Acid shock from snowmelt causes mass destruction of fish. On long term it also
harms fish eggs and sources of food.
Thousands of lakes were killed by acid rain in Scandinavia and North America.
The causes are burning of fossil fuels leading to release of SO 2 in particular and
Nitrogen oxides.
Problems of Sweden caused by Industrial plants in England and North Europe.
Problems of North America caused by utilities in Ohio valley, the largest polluter
of SO2 in USA.
Some of the potential changes are still unknown
Micro organisms in soil are being affected
Groundwater is polluted but its ultimate effects are not known
The effects may be known only after another 100 years
Effect on food sources are also unclear
11. What are the other problems caused to the environment?
Build-up of CO2 from the use of fossil fuels by Industrial nations could result in
Greenhouse effect.
Damage to protective OZONE layer due to the release of Freon is related to
technological products used by the people of these nations.
12. What is Greenhouse effect?
Greenhouse Effect is defined as The progressive warming up of earths surface
due to blanketing effect of man made CO2 in the atmosphere.
A greenhouse is that body which allows the short wavelength incoming solar
radiation to come in, but does not allow the long wave outgoing infra red radiation to
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escape. The earths atmosphere bottles up the energy of the sun and it acts like a
green house, where CO2 acts like a glass windows.
13. What are the effects of Greenhouse?
The temperature effect of the CO2 and water vapour combined together has a
14. Describe the case study of environmental degradation caused by PCB &
Kanemis Oil?
In Southern Japan, in 1968 a large number of people suffered by disfigurement of
skin, discolouration, fatigue, numbness, respiratory distress, vomiting and loss of
hair.
10,000 people got affected & some died
Two groups of 121 people each were tested and results were as follows:
It was found that fried food using rice oil produced by Kanemi company
was eaten which caused the problem
After 7 months of investigation.
It was found that the presence of Polychlorinated biphenyl-PCB was
the cause for the effects and it was present in the rice oil.
Rice Oil was heated at low pressure to remove the odour thro a heat
exchanger and a liquid known as KANECHLOR which contained PCB
was used for heat transfer
Pipes of the heat exchanger was corroded and led to leakage thro
those pinholes.
In fact, Kanemi had been replenishing 27 kgs of lost PCB per month for
sometime without realizing the seriousness.
Indirect path this rice was used as chicken-feed and half of one million
chickens that were fed died.
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PCB leaked into fishmeal from a heating system in North Carolina plant
and 12000 tons of fishmeal were contaminated and 88000 chicken, fed
with fishmeal had to be destroyed.
High pressure injection of water near Baldwin Dam in Los Angeles caused
the reservoir crack open along a fault line. The water released killed 5 and
damaged property worth $14 million.
15. How can we internalise Costs of Environmental Degradation?
Time cost of a product includes numerous factors like effect of pollution, the
depletion of energy and raw materials, social costs, etc.
If these costs are internalized (added to the price), then the cost can be
charged directly to the beneficiary of the degradation of environment.
It is better to make the user to pay for all its costs than to levy higher taxes.
An acceptable mechanism for price fixing must be found by the engineer with
the help of the economist, scientist, lawyer and politician which could protect
the environment through self correcting procedures.
Good design practices may give better environmental protection without
added cost.
16. Give a brief account of Technology Assessment?
o Engineers are said to be finding the right answers for the wrong questions
o Finding the right questions is much more difficult than finding the right
answers to these questions
o Engineers should
Try to assess the technology and its environmental impacts and focus
on containing the major adverse effects.
During assessment even if engineers were strongly believe that the
projects have no adverse effect, they should continue to monitor the
outcome even after its implementation which only would give the
complete picture of the consequences of the project.
17. Write short notes on Sentient Centered Ethics, Bio Centric Ethics,
Ecocentric Ethics and Human Centered Environmental Ethics.
Sentient Centered Ethics
Sentient animals are those which feel pain and pleasure. This version of Naturecentered ethics is advanced by some utilitarians, notably Peter Singer, who says that
right action maximizing good for all should include sentient animals as well as
humans. Failure to do so leads discrimination like racism, which is known as
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Speciesism. There is always a dispute as to whether the inherent worth of animals
can be equated to human beings or not.
Bio Centric Ethics
This regards all living organisms as having inherent worth. We should live with the
virtue of reverence to life, as set forth by Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965). This will
enable us to take decisions about when life can be sacrificed.
Ecocentric Ethics
This locates inherent worth in Ecological systems and this approach is different from
the other two, as it is not individualistic. This is voiced by Aldo Leopold (1887-1948).
There is another view that ecocentric ethic does not replace socially generated
human-oriented duties to family, neighbours and humanity
Human Centered Environmental Ethics
This is an extension of ethical theories to combat threats to human beings presented
by the destruction of nature.
18. Define computer ethics?
Computer Ethics deals with the evaluation of and decision making in a variety of
moral problems caused by computers.
19. What shifts are caused in power relationships by Computers?
Power relationship caused by Computers:
1. Job Elimination:
Computers still continue to lead to elimination of jobs.
While employees cannot be paid when there is no work, all attempts are to be
made by employers to readjust work assignments and retain employees.
The absence of this practice creates an employee or pubic backlash against
introduction of Computers.
2. Customer Relations:
It is very easy for a customer to notice an error in a computer printout, of the
price difference between what is shown at the shelf and what is shown in cash
receipt register.
Here moral sense and long term business requirement requires that the
policies should be made favourable to consumers.
3. Biased Software:
A group of people with known convictions, may tend to produce software
which favours their views rather than views from all angles to let the user
decide finally.
4. Stock Trading:
Automatic, hands-off trading of stocks and currency can be performed,
benefiting the trading community but it will harm the intended purposes.
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5. Unrealistic Expectations:
Sales personnel have a tendency to oversell systems that are too large for
customers requirements; sometimes even those which are not ready for
delivery.
6. Political Power:
By obtaining information about different groups of people regarding their
attitudes and values, the computers can be made to help politicians to make
speeches, send mails, etc. which would be appealing selectively to these
groups.
7. Military Weapons:
Computerised military weapons, even if perfected, will only make opposing
countries to develop their striking or responding capability which is not healthy
for the world.
20. What problems are encountered in the use of computers with properties?
The two major problems encountered in the use of computers with properties are:
1. Embezzlement and
2. Theft of software and information
21. How the problem of embezzlement takes place through computers and
why?
The speed and geographic coverage of the computer system and the difficulty
of tracing the transactions through computers makes catching the thieves
troublesome.
Computers are abused in i) stealing by employees at work, ii) stealing by nonemployees or former employees, iii) stealing from or cheating clients and
consumers, iv) violating contracts for computer sales or service and v)
conspiring to use computer networks to engage in widespread fraud.
Penalties for computer crime are mild compared to conventional crimes.
Passwords and more recently, data encryptions are used for security with
limited effectiveness.
22. Explain briefly about Data and Software with respect to property problems.
Data is information stored in a computer.
Software or program consists of i) an algorithm, ii) a source code and iii) an
object code.
Software can be protected by Copyrights and Trade secret laws. Patenting on
software is limited to detailed coding sequences but not final products.
Algorithms and object codes cannot be copyrighted. But source code can be
copyrighted.
Eg. Buying one copy and reproducing dozens of copies.
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23. Describe how and in what ways violation of privacy occurs in and through
Computers.
Computers make more information available to more people. This makes protection
of computer privacy difficult.
1. Inappropriate Access:
Documents recorded for a crime which one did not commit but was arrested.
As a child you were arrested for drinking alcohol
Medical data about visits to a psychiatrist.
A loan default to a National Bank.
Any of the above information can be accessed by, let us say, a prospective employer
during a security check.
2. Data Bank Errors:
Even erroneous information when generated by computers is taken to be
authenticated.
Immediate reaction to such wrong information may mostly prove to be incorrect.
3. Hackers:
Hackers are people who compulsively challenge any computer security system,
choke networks, give out false information, etc.
This can be extremely harmful.
It is a violation of property rights.
At the least, it reduces productivity by shutting down systems.
Individual privacy, national security, freedom to protect proprietary information
are three values requiring limits on access to information.
24. How has law responded to computer abuses?
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Towards the end of World War II, night raids sometimes on civilian areas were
very common
The deaths caused by Atom bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki were not more than
the deaths caused by single air raids in World War II
But they were horrible because of their power in rapid delivery of destructive
power in immense concentration
Hiroshima Bomb equivalent to 20000T of TNT powder carried on 267 bogies of
railroad (2 miles long) for one bomb again equivalent to 740-B52 bombers to
carry this load.
USSR exploded Hydrogen bombs in 1960 50 & 60 mega ton range for tests
with capabilities such as:
2000 to 3000 times powerful than Hiroshima bomb
4000 to 6000 miles long train required to carry an equivalent amount of
TNT powder which will take 100 hours to pass any point
Will require one and a half million planes +(bombers) to carry the
powder
Towards the end of cold war
USSR had 5800 megatons (9500 warheads on 2700 launchers) and
USA had 3300 megatons (10800 warheads on 2000 launchers)
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She also knows that if she continues doing well in her job, she will again be
promoted to work on a commercial product.
3. Ron is a specialist in missile control and guidance. He knows that he was one of
the engineers instrumental in keeping any potential enemy in check through his
work. At least, there is enough mutual deterrence for a third world war.
4. Joanne is an electronics engineer working also on avionics for fighter planes that
are sold abroad. She does not want these planes to be sold to hostile countries.
Since she does not have any say on who should be their customers, she even alerts
occasionally her journalist friends with information about her work which she feels all
public should have.
Anyone who is involved in weapons development should be very clear as to his/her
motives for being in the industry.
31. What are the Problems of Defense Industry in brief?
1. Large military build-ups, massive projects all lead to unethical business practices
and the urgency of completion of the weapons projects does not allow proper
controlling and monitoring.
2. Technology creep development of cruise missiles alters diplomatic
arrangements
3. The impact of secrecy surrounding any defense activity
4. Overall effect of defense spending on economy
32. Explain the problems of defense industry with examples.
1. Large military build-ups: $2 billion cost overrun on the development of C5-A
cargo plane reported to the public by Ernest Fitzgerald due to poor operating
efficiencies in defense industry. He pointed out how large suppliers felt secure in
not complying to cost-cutting plans but small contractors were willing.
25% firms hold 50%of all defense contracts and 8 firms conduct 45% of
defense research.
2. Technology creep: The arms are not only growing in size, it is also becoming
better. The development of a new missile or one that can target more accurately,
by one country, can upset or destabilize a diplomatic negotiation. Sometimes this
fad for modernization leads to undesirably consequences. The F15 fighter planes
were supposed to be fastest and most maneuverable of its kind but most were
not available for service due to repairs, defects and lack of spares. Engineers
should be beware of such pitfalls.
3. Impact of secrecy: Secrecy poses problems to engineers. Engineers should be
aware of the answers to the following questions:
Should discoveries of significance to military be informed to govt.? Can they
be shared with other researchers, in other countries? Should they be withheld
from the scientific and public community? Will the secrecy in weapons
development will also serve to hide corruption or their mistakes in defense
establishments? Can secrecy help the promotion of weapons systems without
criticism or interference from outsiders?
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4. Effect on economy: Every dollar spent on defense produces less jobs than what
could be provided for by using the resource on other neglected sectors such as
education and road development. May be a changeover by training defense
engineers to use their designs, processes and techniques to bring about better,
competitive civilian products is what would be the most appropriate thing to do
now.
33. What are the difficulties in Decommissioning Weapons?
1. Even now, shells (duds or live) which landed about 90 years back during World
War I are found by farmers during ploughing. Special bomb disposal squads are
being kept busy with hundreds of calls.
2. There are, still more, unexploded and hidden bombs allover the world that fell
during World War II
3. Severed limbs and dead bodies are being discovered in lands filled with mines in
Cambodia and Vietnam in 1960s and70s.
4. Anti-personnel weapons are found in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Mozambique,
Nicaragua and Somalia.
5. These weapons are easily spread by air but are very difficult and dangerous to
detect and remove.
6. About 100 million landmines remain still scattered in the above countries as per
estimates by U.S.State dept.
7. Landmines present a serious ethical dilemma to leaders who want to be ethical in
wars also
8. Design, mfr, deployment and eventually their disposal is a huge experiment.
9. Widespread ignorance on radiation amongst the public
10. Gas warfare experiments, Anthrax carriers, nuclear weapons all cause both
known and unknown problems
11. Engineers dealing with dangerous material should consider both the intended
use and also the unintended consequences and also their disposal.
34. Which studies are more useful to engineer managers than even
engineering?
Richard L.Meehan, a civil engg graduate from MIT, was retained by General Electric
as a consultant to testify before Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the capability
of GEs nuclear plant in California, U.S.A. to withstand earthquakes.
He found, while trying to understand the effect of earthquakes on nuclear plants, that
1. His basic study of physics is more useful in studying this area compared to
the more advanced studies in engg.
2. His understanding of risk analysis was based not only on probability theory
but also on value judgement about safety.
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3. But more interesting was that understanding people was more important than
anything else.
4. Person oriented skills are as important to engineers as technical skills.
35. Why managements prefer to make engineers as managers than nonengineers? / Why engineers find management positions attractive?
The ethical custom refered by Friedman means only refraining from fraud,
deception and corruption.
But Martin and Schinzinger say that Friedman is not correct in saying that
managers ethics reduce to only responsibility to maximize profits for
stockholders.
The primary responsibility of managers is to produce product or service while
maintaining respect for persons, including customers, employees and public.
Ethically, personnel and safety comes first before profits.
By definition, compared to charitable institutions, religions, organizations, etc
organizations and corporates operate only for profits.
But the ultimate goal of managers should be to make valuable products that
are also profitable since profit making is one of the conditions to be in
business.
Good business and sound ethics go together. Hence the moral roles of
managers and engineers are complementary and not opposed.
Engineer managers have two major responsibilities promoting and ethical
climate and resolving conflicts.
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There are highly ethical organizations, examples of some of which are given below:
1. Marilyn Hamilton, founded Quickie Designs in 1980, who was a teacher and
athlete who was paralyzed in hang-gliding accident. A highly mobile and versatile
wheel chair was designed weighing 26 pounds, half the weight of chairs that were
currently produced. The company grew up within a decade to $65 millions in sales. It
had a policy of customer sponsored sports events for young people in wheelchairs. It
is relatively small (500 strong) and exceptionally committed.
2. Martin Mariette Corpn began an ethics program in 1985 emphasizing basic value
like honesty and fairness and responsibility for environment and high product quality.
They drafted a code of conduct, conducted and ethics workshop for managers and
created effective procedures for employees to express their ethical concerns.
3. Texas Instruments (TI) is an example of an ethical large corporation emphasizing
on trust, respect for other persons, etc. TI appointed a full time Ethics Director, Carl
Skooglund. He surveyed to know the ethical concerns of employees and their
awareness. He conducted workshops on ethics, wrote brochures and was directly to
all employees through a confidential phone line. Even though they made it clear that
unprofessional conduct would not be tolerated, the focus was on supporting ethical
conduct than punishing wrong doers.
4. A large defense contractor started an ethics program that was not successful.
Higher management viewed the program as a success but the professional
employees considered it as a sham/farce for public relations and window dressing.
The primary
difficulty was the gap between the intentions of top management and the unchanged
behaviour of the Senior managers.
38. What steps can be taken to improve the ethical climate by managers?
1. Ethical values and their full complexity are widely acknowledged and
appreciated by managers and engineers. Neither profits nor promoting the
interests of the organization is neglected but the moral limits on profit-seeking
go beyond simply obeying the law and avoiding fraud.
2. The sincere use of ethical language is recognized as a legitimate part of
corporate dialogue. This is done either by formulating corporate code of ethics
or by including ethical responsibilities in job descriptions at all levels.
3. Top management must set a moral tone, in words, in policies and by personal
example. Everyone should be confident that management is serious about
ethics.
4. There must be procedures for conflict resolution. Managers should be trained
to resolve conflicts and on the other hand, a person should be exclusively
made to have confidential discussions about moral concerns.
39. What are the most common conflicts?
o Conflicts over schedules, depending mostly on support depts. but where
managers do not have any control.
o Conflicts over which is the most important dept or function at a given time
o Conflicts over personnel resources
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o
o
o
o
40. Can conflicts be managed by force or authority? How are different conflicts
resolved?
o I am in-charge - see it my way or I will fire you. This is generally perceived
as self-defeating.
o Conflict arrangement sometimes means tolerating and even inviting some
forms of conflict
o Managers task is to create climate in which conflicts are addressed
constructively
o Personality conflicts are ranked relatively low in intensity but they are most
difficult to resolve.
o They are generally woven with technical/communication problems
o Properly managed technical and ethical conflicts are usually fruitful and not
harmful. Differing views provide opportunity for improved creativity.
41. What are the 4 ways to resolve conflicts among persons suggested by
Harvard Negotiation Project?
1) People: Separate people from the problem.
Even though both the people and the problem are important, the personal
aspect of the conflict should be separated from the problem to deal with it
better. On personality clashes, the focus should be on behaviour and not on
people.
2) Interests: Focus on interests and not position\s
This principle applies most clearly to personnel matters and ethical views,
rather than technical disputes. Positions are stated views but these may not
really express their best interests.
3) Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do.
Create a wide range of options especially in technical and ethical issues and
facilitate discussions.
4) Criteria: Insist that the result be based on some objective standard.
Beyond the goals of efficiency, quality and customer satisfaction, it is
important to develop a sense of fair process in how the goals are met.
42. What is the nature of work for Engineers as Consulting Engineers?
43. What are the major areas of work for engineer consultants?
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Advertising
Competitive bidding
Contingency fees
Safety and client needs
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the use of statements containing a material misrepresentation of fact or omitting a
material fact necessary to keep the statement from being misleading; statements
intended or likely to create an unjustified expectation; statements containing
prediction of future success; statements containing an opinion as to the quality of the
showmanship including the use of slogans, jingles or sensational language format.
48. When consulting engineers reject competitive bidding, what can be the
basis of their selection?
Consulting engineers, in the absence of competitive bidding can be selected only
based on their reputation and proven qualification. But younger, competent
engineers may be disadvantaged by this method.
49. What is your understanding of Contingency Fees?
Contingency fee is dependent on some specific conditions beyond normal,
satisfactory performance in work.
A client may hire a consultant engineer to find methods of cost saving on an
ongoing project to save a minimum of 10%. If consultant saves 10%, he will get
his fee; otherwise no fee will be paid. The fee can be either an agreed amount or
a %age of savings.
When the fee is a %age of saving, it becomes contingency fee. In many cases,
consultants tend to be biased and in order to gain the fee, they may specify
inferior design or process to cut costs.
50. How does NSPE address the issue of Contingency Fee?
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Large projects involve owners, consultants and contractors and many participants
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Consulting engineers are generally tied to the contract provisions and they do not
try any innovative ideas (do not want to add risks)
All this have led to considerable litigation and any litigation is time consuming and
costly.
54. What are the steps to be taken resolve disputes?
1. Define how risks are to be apportioned and payment of fees to be made
2. Make contractual provisions for dispute solving vehicles to avoid legal battles in
lines of mediation arbitration
3. Mediator attempts to resolve first and if it fails, the arbitrators decision should
be final.
4. National Joint Board for settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes will be called to
provide a leaking board and appeals board.
5. The Consulting Engineer, from the social experimentation nature of
engineering, has the obligation to include such clauses in contracts and should
make sure that these clauses are adhered to by all.
55. What is the work done by Engineers as Experts?
Engineers, in their position as experts, explain the happenings of the past in terms of
Causes of accidents, malfunctions of equipment and other technological events.
They also help in events of the future like, public planning, potential of patents and
policy making (in technology)
56. How should Expert Engineers function?
They should function as impartial seekers of facts & Communicators of truth but not
as hired guns i.e. advocates for lawyers, officials, etc
57. What are the types of cases, expert witnesses are called upon to testify in
court & what are the stakes?
57.1. Types Of Cases
I. Airplane crash
II. Defective products
III. Personal injury
IV. Property damage
V. Traffic accident
57.2. Stakes
I. Legal liabilities
II. Economic interests
III. Reputations of corpns. and professionals
58. What are the Expert engineers responsibilities towards their hirers?
They should
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62. What is the difference between Eye witness and Expert witness?
Eye Witness
Is permitted to testify on observed and to some extent perceived facts.
Expert Witness
Is permitted to testify on facts, perceptions and interpretations of facts in the
area of their expertise
To comment on opponents expert witness view
To report on applicable professional standards
63. What are the types of abuses of Engineers as Expert witnesses?
Expert witnesses are abused in the following ways:
Hired Guns
Financial Bias
Ego Bias
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Sympathy Bias
64. Write short notes on: a) Hired Guns, b) Financial Bias, c) Ego Bias and
d) Sympathy Bias
a) Hired Gun
An unscrupulous (unprincipled, crooked, immoral) engineer
Makes his living by helping lawyers to portray facts in favour of their clients
Never tries to be objective
Violates standards of honesty and care in conducting investigations
Overall a shame on engineering community
b) Financial Bias
The expert witness is biased to the party which pays more money
The bias increases substantially when payments are agreed as Contingency
Fee to be paid only in case the hirer wins the case
Full time forensic engineers, being dependent on lawyers for their living, try to
create a reputation of a winning engineer.
c) Ego Bias
Competitive attitudes, being on one side of the disputing parties makes an
expert, egoistic and makes him influence judgments
They start identifying themselves with their side of the dispute
d) Sympathy Bias
The plight of the victims and their sufferings can invoke sympathy from the
expert witness
This upsets impartial investigation of facts
65. What is needed of the Expert Engineers?
Engineer Experts should maintain their integrity in the face of all the above
biases
Courts also must rely on balance provided by expert witnesses on both sides
of the case and provide opportunities to lawyers to remove the bias by crossexamination
66. What is the work of Engineers as Advisers?
Engineers act as Advisers in Planning and Policy-Making like Economists,
sociologists, urban planners, etc.
In Policy-Making they advise about the Cost benefit analysis of alternate solutions for
transport, housing, energy, defense, etc.
In Planning they check the feasibility, risks and benefits of the specific technological
projects which affect public in local communities
67. What are the Stakes for the engineer advisers?
Their stakes are:
1. Opposing political views
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2. Social perspectives
3. Economic interests
4. And their individual values like,
Honesty
Public trust
Respect for common good
68. How should Engineer advisers act?
Advisers are to:
Chart all realistic options
Carefully assess each under different assumptions about future contingencies
Act favourable to the client by basing their studies on particular assumptions
about future contingencies
69. What are the factors that influence Advisers?
Advisers are influenced by:
Large amounts of money involved
Direct and overt (obvious and unconcealed) pressure applied by pro or antipeople involved in that project
Hope of additional work in future
Their wish to get the respect of clients
70. What are the normative models of Advisers? Briefly explain each of them.
Normative Models of Advisers
Three types:
Hired Guns
Value Neutral Analysts
Value Guided Analysts
Hired Guns This is the most undesirable role that can be played by the adviser.
Here the obligation to clients only is paramount and other values are not
bothered about.
Studies are made just conforming to the clients wish.
Adviser highlights only the favourable facts to the customer.
All the unfavourable facts are very much downplayed.
Value Neutral Analysts
Completely impartial engineers.
They identify all options and analyze factual issues of each option.
Cost-benefit analysis are made based on value criteria specified and made public
Value Guided Analysts
Responsibility to public paramount
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75. Explain Moral Creativity.
Moral creativity is
Identifying most important values in particular situations
Focusing on them through effective communication within the group.
Deep commitments grounded in integrity to implement them.
Creativity consists in identifying new possibilities for applying, extending and putting
into practice, rather than inventing values.
76. How participation in Professional Societies will improve moral leadership?
Professional Societies
o Promote continuing education for their members
o Unify the profession, speak and act on behalf of them
o Are a forum for communicating, organizing and mobilizing change within, a
change which has a moral dimension.
o Cannot take any pro-employee or pro-management stand since they have
members in management, supervision and non-management.
o But they can play a role in resolving moral issues
o A moral responsibility as well as moral creativity is shared.
77. How can individuals make a difference in leadership of Professional
Societies?
o Stephen H. Unger, as an individual was mainly responsible for persuading
IEEE to focus on supporting responsible engineers than punishing wrong
doers. He was instrumental in IEEE presenting awards to the three BART
engineers.
o In 1988, NSPE created National Institute of Engineering Ethics with a mission
to promote ethics within engineering. The focus was on education rather than
propaganda.
o But effective professional activity, requires a substantial trust from clients and
the public.
o Building and sustaining that trust is an important responsibility shared by all
engineers.
o In this area also Moral Leadership within professional societies is important.
78. Write short note on Leadership in Communities.
Leadership responsibilities of engineers as citizens go beyond those of nonengineers. They should provide greater leadership in social debates about
Industrial Pollution
Automobile Safety
Disposal of Nuclear Waste, etc.
79. What are the different views on leadership in communities?
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